Dough laminating

ABSTRACT

In a method and apparatus for laminating bakery dough in the manufacture of crackers for example a continuously moving peeler conveyor band is caused to reciprocate with a reciprocatory laminating device for the purpose of depositing an additive such as fat/flour dust between the dough laminations the speed of the conveyor band relative to the speed of the laminating device being such that the additive is discharged from the conveyor during movement of the laminating device in one direction only.

United States Patent Steels 154] DOUGH LAMINATING [72] inventor: GordonSteels, Peterborough, En-

gland [73] Assignee: Baker Perkins Limited, Peterborough, England [22]Filed: Nov. 20, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 91,382

[52] U.S. Cl. ..-.99/450.l, 425/104, 425/1 15,

425/310, 118/18, 99/90 [51] Int, Cl ..A2lc [58] Field of Search 107/1 R,l J, 54

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,478,075 8/1949" Baker..l07/l J 3,354,842 11/1967 Manspeaker 107/1 J k 51 Oct. 17,1972

OTHER PUBLICATIONS Production of Puff Paste, The Bakers Digest, by HeinzFrobeen, February 1957, pp. 58- 61 and 79 Primary Examiner-Patrick D.Lawson -AttorneyLarson, Taylor & Hinds [57] ABSTRACT In a method andapparatus for laminating bakery dough in the manufacture of crackers forexample a continuously moving peeler conveyor band is caused toreciprocate with a reciprocatory laminating device for the purpose ofdepositing an additive such as fat/flour dust between the doughlaminations the speed of the conveyor band relative to the speed of thelaminating device being such that the additive is discharged from theconveyor during movement of the laminating device in one direction only.

I 7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEDucI 17 1912 SHEET 1 OF 3 INVENTORGURHON STEELS PATENTEDnm 17 I972 SHEETEUFS FIG. 3.

F|G.4. 9 IO AM. finx INVENTOR GORDON: STEELS PATENTEDUCT 17 I972 3.698309 SHEET 3 0F 3 INVENTOR GORDON STEELS noucn LAMINATING for use inmaking biscuits, cream and soda crackers and the like, and to apparatususeful for carrying out the method.

In the manufacture of hard sweet biscuits, soda crackers and waterbiscuits, a single sheet of dough is produced by a 2 or 3 roll sheeterfollowed by two pairs of gauge rolls which then deliver the sheet to asheet layering or laminating device.

For cream crackers two sheets of dough are produced from a pair of 2 or3 roll sheeters with means for adding a layer of fat/flour dust betweenthe sheets which are then passed between three sets of gauge rolls andunited into a single sheet with the fat/flourdust in the center beforearrival at the layering or lamination device.

If a laminating device operating ona single sheet ofdough received froma 2 or 3 roll sheeter is provided with means for adding the fat/flourdust at the point of layering or laminating the dough, (which pointmoves back and forth with a fixed stroke during lamination) it ispossible to produce a design of apparatus which will be universal in itsapplication in so far as the apparatus can be used for producing from asingle sheet of dough both laminated dough, without fat/flour dust beingadded, (for soda crackers and water biscuits), or for producinglaminated dough with the addition of fat/flour dust for cream crackers,from a single sheet of dough.

FIGS. 2 to 5 are diagrammatic side views of the apparatus duringdifferent stages in its operation in the formation of a singlelamination, and

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic perspective view of the apparatus showing theresultant product,

Referring to FIG. 1, avertical 2-roll dough sheeter,

with a pair of sheeting rolls 1 having co-operative sets speed ofmovement of the laminating carriage the peel- The present inventionconsists in'a method of laminating a bakery product sheet such as asheet of cracker dough using a reciprocatory laminating device whereinan additive such as fat/flour dust is continuously introduced between apair of laminations at the point of lamination as this point moves inone direction, the additive being received from a continuously movingband conveyor, a nosepiece of which reciprocates back and forth with thelaminating device, and onto which conveyor the additive has beendeposited.

, The invention further consists in apparatus for laminating abakery'product sheet such as a sheet of cracker dough comprising areciprocatory laminating device and a continuously movable band conveyorhaving a nosepiece adapted to reciprocate with the laminating deviceduring continuous movement of the conveyor band whereby materialdeposited onto the conveyor band can be continuously delivered at thepoint of lamination during the formation of a pair of sheet laminationsand while the conveyor nosepiece moves in one direction.

If vertical sheeting means is used to deliver a dough sheet to areciprocatory laminating carriage, and the fat/flour dust from aconventional type of spreader is deposited onto a continuously movingband, the nosepiece of which is attached to the reciprocating laminatorcarriage, it is possible to add the fat/flour dust at the point oflamination where the vertical dough sheet changes to a horizontal plane.The invention will now be described by way of example with reference tothe accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a semi-diagrammatic side view of apparatus according to theinvention,

ing conveyor will'with' this arrangement continuously lay the dust ontothe laminated sheet at the point of lamination only during retractingstrokes of the peeling conveyor.

Thus, assuming that the width of the laminated dough sheet on thecutting machinery is 1 meter wide, then the delivery end of thelaminating carriage will traverse this width at a constant velocity andtravel a total distance of 2 meters during one carriage cycle.

The continuous fat/flour distributing band 10 is'the same width as thelaminated sheet, and is driven at a constant velocity and moves through2 meters during one carriage cycle.

When the terminal roller of the distributing band is moving away fromthe fixed fat/flour spreader (FIGS. 2 and 3) through a total distance of1 meter, the driving drum of the distributing band will move 1 meter ofband past the fat/flour distributor 12. As the terminal roller is movingthrough a distance of 1 meter away from the driving drum at the sametime the band is moving towards this terminal roller through a distanceof 1 meter, then the resultant movement over the nose roller will bezero, and. therefore no fat/flour will be delivered onto the sheet ofdough beneath the carriage.

On the return stroke (FIGS. 4 and 5) the carriage will move back through1 meter with the band still moving forward 1 meter during this time, andtherefore the resultant movement over the nose roller will be 2 metersand result in 2 meters of fat/flour being delivered onto the 1 meterlength of dough underneath.

In other words, fat/flour is metered continuously onto the moving band10 and is stored on this band during the forward travel of the laminatorand discharged from the band during the return stroke.

This means that a layer of fat/flour is being sandwiched between doublethicknesses of dough sheet as shown in' FIGS. 2 to 6.

An alternative arrangement to this is to fit an additional identicalpeeling conveyor unit on the opposite side of the reciprocatinglaminating carriage, so that when one unit is advancing and notdelivering fat/flour, the other is retracting and delivering fat/flour.With this arrangement there will be a layer of fat/flour between eachsingle sheet of dough.

One problem with the above method of layering is that if the fat/flouris distributed to the full width of the sheet to be laminated, therewill be exposed fat/flour dust in a wedge-shaped piece 13 (FIG. 6) foreach lamination which is not desirable. By cutting down the width of thefat/flour by a dimension equal to one laminating pitch this problem isovercome, but presents another one in that the sandwiching is notuniform throughout the whole length of the laminated sheet. Thisarrangement may still produce an acceptable cream cracker, but anarrangement to overcome this possible problem is to fit a movingdiverter chute ,beneath the fat/flour spreader, so that the fat/flour istapered onto the distributing conveyor, the diverted fat/flour beingcollected and returned to the hopper 11. Again with this arrangement afurther problem is presented in that the amount of fat/flour will varyfrom side to side and this is again overcome by using the doublearrangement, i.e., fat/flour spreader on each side of the machine.

l claim:

1. A method of laminating a bakery product sheet such as a sheet ofcracker dough using a reciprocatory laminating device wherein anadditive such as fat/flour dust is continuously introduced between apair of laminations at the point of lamination as this point moves inone direction, the additive being. received from a continuously movingband conveyor, a nosepiece of which reciprocates back and forth with thelaminating device, and onto which conveyor the additive has beendeposited.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the band speed of the conveyorrelative to the speed of the laminating device is such that the additiveis introduced between the laminations only during travel of thelaminating device in one direction.

3. Apparatus for laminating a bakery product sheet such as a sheet ofcracker dough comprising a reciprocatory laminating device and acontinuously movable band conveyor having a nosepiece adapted toreciprocate with the laminating device during continuous movement of theconveyor band whereby material deposited onto the conveyor band can becontinuously delivered at the point of lamination during the formationof a pair of sheet laminations and while the conveyor nosepiece moves inone direction.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein the conveyor is a peelingconveyor.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein the conveyor band is adapatedto travel at a'speed relative to the speed of travel of the laminatingdevice such that material is only delivered from the conveyor duringtravel of the laminating device in one direction.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 including a hopper and a fixeddistributor conveyor for depositing material onto the band conveyor.

7. Apparatus as claimed claim 3 including a vertical sheeter adapted tosupply sheet material to the laminating device.

1. A method of laminating a bakery product sheet such as a sheet ofcracker dough using a reciprocatory laminating device wherein anadditive such as fat/flour dust is continuously introduced between apair of laminations at the point of lamination as this point moves inone direction, the additive being received from a continuously movingband conveyor, a nosepiece of which reciprocates back and forth with thelaminating device, and onto which conveyor the additive has beendeposited.
 2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the band speed ofthe conveyor relative to the speed of the laminating device is such thatthe additive is introduced between the laminations only during travel ofthe laminating device in one direction.
 3. Apparatus for laminating abakery product sheet such as a sheet of cracker dough comprising areciprocatory laminating device and a continuously movable band conveyorhaving a nosepiece adapted to reciprocate with the laminating deviceduring continuous movement of the conveyor band whereby materialdeposited onto the conveyor band can be continuously delivered at thepoint of lamination during the formation of a pair of sheet laminationsand while the conveyor nosepiece moves in one direction.
 4. Apparatus asclaimed in claim 3 wherein the conveyor is a peeling conveyor. 5.Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein the conveyor band is adapated totravel at a speed relative to the speed of travel of the laminatingdevice such that material is only delivered from the conveyor duringtravel of the laminating device in one direction.
 6. Apparatus asclaimed in claim 3 including a hopper and a fixed distributor conveyorfor depositing material onto the band conveyor.
 7. Apparatus as claimedclaim 3 including a vertical sheeter adapated to supply sheet materialto the laminating device.